Solid state battery breakthrough from pan-Asian team 

According to the team, which included contributors from across several Asian universities, they have developed a new generation of solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) for lithium-metal batteries (LMBs), greatly improving both safety and performance. SSE technology could be transformative, as it promises enhanced energy density compared with the lithium-ion batteries in wide use today, as well as removing the risk of thermal runaway due to dendrite formation. 

The new approach to SSEs saw the team combining a class of porous called ionic covalent organic frameworks (iCOFs) with a type of polymer called poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) for fabricating solvent- and plasticiser-free SSEs. This new iCOF/PIL composite SSE achieved high ionic conductivity (up to 1.50 x 10−3 S cm−1) and lithium-ion transport capability (> 0.80) at room temperature.  

Using this advanced SSE, the team then fabricated a LMB full cell made of composite SSEs and a LiFePO4 composite cathode. In testing, the cell demonstrated an initial discharge capacity of 141.5mAh g−1 at 1C and room temperature, with a capacity retention of 87 per cent over 800 cycles. The study, recently published in Advanced Energy Materials, was a collaboration between researchers at HKUST, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Zhejiang University in Mainland China and Hanyang University in South Korea.